acardia

9.9

An unborn baby without a heart

noun
/əˈkɑrdɪə/

Specialized

: acardia

The fetus was diagnosed with acardia, a condition incompatible with life.

Examples

Researchers studied several cases of acardia in monozygotic twins.
The doctor diagnosed the fetus with acardia.
Acardia is considered extremely rare in prenatal medicine.
Cases of acardia are extremely rare.
Acardia is considered extremely rare in prenatal medicine.
Researchers studied several cases of acardia in monozygotic twins.
The fetus was diagnosed with acardia, a condition incompatible with life.

Surface Forms

acardia singular

acardias plural

Morphology

acardia = cardiac (semi-transparent) = a + cardi

Formed from the negative prefix 'a-' plus the combining form 'cardi-' meaning 'heart'; clear to those who know medical roots but not to average B1 learners.

Etymology

Acardia comes from Greek parts a- meaning 'without' and kardia meaning 'heart', the same root you see in cardiac or 'cardio'. So acardia literally means 'without a heart', which is why doctors use it for the rare condition when an unborn baby has no heart.